Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

5,668 CRASHES IN
BOSTON, MA
2025

All metrics benchmarked against2024

In 2025, Boston recorded 5,668 crashes, a slight decrease from the 5,691 crashes reported in 2024, representing a 0.40% reduction. The most significant year-over-year change was a substantial 59.26% decrease in total fatalities, from 27 in 2024 to 11 in 2025.

5,668

▼ -0.4%was 5,691

Total Crash Events

▼ -59.3%was 27

Persons Killed

2,576

▲ 13.1%was 2,278

Persons Injured

985

▲ 25.2%was 787

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (11) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (11) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 301 crashes with unreported severity are not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall crash numbers remained relatively stable year-over-year, with a minor decrease of 0.40% from 5,691 crashes in 2024 to 5,668 in 2025. However, there was a notable positive trend in safety outcomes, as total fatalities decreased by 59.26%, while total injuries increased by 13.08%.

985

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2025

▲ 25.2% vs prior (787)

Hit-and-run crashes increased significantly by 25.16% year-over-year, rising from 787 incidents in 2024 to 985 in 2025. This increase also led to an upward trend in the hit-and-run rate, which climbed from 13.8% in 2024 to 17.4% in 2025.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 12↓-33.3%

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 1↓-100.0%

Motorists Killed

Prior: 11↓-72.7%

Other Killed

Prior: 3↓-100.0%

165

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 138↑19.6%

113

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 95↑18.9%

2,238

Motorists Injured

Prior: 2,009↑11.4%

Other Injured

Prior: 36↑66.7%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The peak day for crashes shifted from Saturday in 2024 (879 crashes) to Friday in 2025 (894 crashes). The peak hour for crashes remained 3 PM in both years, though the count decreased from 368 crashes in 2024 to 351 crashes in 2025.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatal crashes saw a significant decrease of 56%, from 25 in 2024 to 11 in 2025, leading to a reduction in the fatal crash rate from 0.44% to 0.19%. Serious injury crashes also decreased by 21.71%, from 129 to 101. Conversely, minor injury crashes increased by 11.69%, from 1,018 to 1,137.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal11fatal crashes0.2%

↓-56.0%prior 25

Serious Injury101serious injury crashes1.8%

↓-21.7%prior 129

Minor Injury1,137minor injury crashes20.1%

↑11.7%prior 1,018

Possible Injury562possible injury crashes9.9%

↓-0.2%prior 563

No Injury3,556no injury crashes62.7%

↓-5.6%prior 3,767

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The top five contributing factors remained consistent in their rankings year-over-year. 'No improper driving' saw an increase of 19.06% in count, rising from 918 in 2024 to 1,093 in 2025. Conversely, 'Followed too closely' decreased by 10.63% in count, from 781 to 698, and 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' decreased by 4.14% in count, from 290 to 278.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving1,093 (19.3%)↑19.1%prior 918

Followed too closely698 (12.3%)↓-10.6%prior 781

Failed to yield right of way460 (8.1%)↓-1.1%prior 465

Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings278 (4.9%)↓-4.1%prior 290

Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road270 (4.8%)↑0.4%prior 269

Inattention200 (3.5%)↓-13.4%prior 231

Exceeded authorized speed limit149 (2.6%)↓-7.5%prior 161

Driving too fast for conditions138 (2.4%)↓-31.0%prior 200

Made an improper turn130 (2.3%)↓-19.3%prior 161

Other improper action127 (2.2%)↓-29.1%prior 179

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in 'Rain' weather decreased by 25.35% from 501 in 2024 to 374 in 2025. Conversely, crashes during 'Snow' weather conditions increased by 60%, from 40 to 64 incidents. Similarly, crashes on 'Wet' road surfaces decreased by 4.5% (from 736 to 703), while those on 'Snow' road surfaces increased by 60% (from 40 to 64).

Weather

Clear2,616 (51.6%)

↓-28.1%prior 3,639

Clear/Clear1,297 (25.6%)

↑323.9%prior 306

Rain374 (7.4%)

↓-25.3%prior 501

Cloudy255 (5.0%)

↓-37.0%prior 405

Cloudy/Cloudy118 (2.3%)

↑637.5%prior 16

Rain/Rain105 (2.1%)

↑238.7%prior 31

Snow60 (1.2%)

↑27.7%prior 47

Rain/Cloudy50 (1.0%)

↑100.0%prior 25

Cloudy/Rain38 (0.7%)

↓-46.5%prior 71

Clear/Cloudy28 (0.6%)

↑64.7%prior 17

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight2,899 (56.8%)

↓-3.1%prior 2,991

Dark - lighted roadway1,783 (35.0%)

↓-5.8%prior 1,892

Dusk162 (3.2%)

↑31.7%prior 123

Dawn141 (2.8%)

↑6.0%prior 133

Dark - roadway not lighted62 (1.2%)

→0.0%prior 62

Dark - unknown roadway lighting37 (0.7%)

↓-7.5%prior 40

Other16 (0.3%)

↓-33.3%prior 24

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry3,818 (82.3%)

↓-5.0%prior 4,020

Wet703 (15.2%)

↓-4.5%prior 736

Snow64 (1.4%)

↑60.0%prior 40

Ice22 (0.5%)

↓-24.1%prior 29

Slush11 (0.2%)

↑22.2%prior 9

Sand, mud, dirt, oil, gravel9 (0.2%)

↑50.0%prior 6

Other8 (0.2%)

↑33.3%prior 6

Water (standing, moving)4 (0.1%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The total number of persons involved in crashes decreased across most age groups, with the largest percentage decrease of 10.5% observed in the 21-25 age group (from 1,649 to 1,476 persons). Toyota remained the top vehicle make involved in crashes, despite a 5.85% decrease in count from 2,119 to 1,995. Honda saw a slight increase of 1.87% in count, while Ford decreased by 14.70%.

Top Vehicle Makes (11,208 vehicles)

TOYOTA1,995 (17.8%)

↓-5.9%prior 2,119

HONDA1,745 (15.6%)

↑1.9%prior 1,713

FORD963 (8.6%)

↓-14.7%prior 1,129

CHEVROLET596 (5.3%)

↑5.3%prior 566

NISSAN586 (5.2%)

↓-12.1%prior 667

JEEP423 (3.8%)

↓-18.5%prior 519

HYUNDAI370 (3.3%)

↑8.2%prior 342

SUBARU347 (3.1%)

↑3.9%prior 334

BMW249 (2.2%)

↓-10.8%prior 279

MERCEDES-BENZ249 (2.2%)

↑14.2%prior 218

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

2,082 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (11,203 persons with recorded sex)

Male7,074 (63.1%)

↓-4.8%prior 7,431

Female4,126 (36.8%)

↓-3.3%prior 4,266

X / Unspecified3 (0.0%)

→0.0%prior 3

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in the 25 mph speed limit zone increased by 5.15% in count, from 1,846 in 2024 to 1,941 in 2025, while fatalities in this zone decreased by 47.37%, from 19 to 10. The fatal crash rate for the 25 mph zone decreased from 1.029% to 0.515%. Conversely, crashes in the 35 mph zone decreased by 18.63% in count, from 526 to 428, and fatalities in this zone decreased by 50%.

Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 10 of 1,941 (0.515%) · 35 mph: 1 of 428 (0.234%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Posted speed limit at crash location

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), accessed programmatically via the Arcgis_yearly Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.

Data Retrieval

Access method: Arcgis_yearly Open Data API (SoQL queries)
Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
Date filter applied: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31
Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

Reporting period: 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31 (365 days)
Geographic scope: BOSTON, MA
Total crash records analyzed: 5,668
Total persons involved: 13,381
Total vehicles involved: 11,208

Analytical Methodology

Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.

Limitations & Disclaimers

Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.

Non-Affiliation Disclosure

This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.

Data License

The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.

Corrections & Feedback

If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.

Suggested Citation

ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "BOSTON, MA Crash Intelligence Report: 2025." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/boston/2025-annual-report

About the Publisher

ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.

Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai

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5,668 CRASHES INBOSTON, MA2025